According to prior art practice, ornaments, for example, glass crystals, are typically arranged in chandeliers and other ornamental fixtures using wire-like connectors or connectors produced as stampings from metal sheets or plate. Prior art connectors are typically threaded through perforations in adjacent ornaments to “string” the ornaments together. U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,571 of Schonbek discloses one such connector for arranging ornamental crystals for use in chandeliers, among other fixtures. Though conventional connectors and means for connecting ornaments are very effective when mounting ornaments, conventional connectors can have limitations when providing longer strings of ornaments or connecting larger ornaments, for example, for large chandeliers.
The limitations of conventional ornament connectors are particularly acute as the number and size of ornaments being connected increases, for example, as the size of a chandelier increases. Ever increasing customer demands for larger and more elaborate chandeliers tax the capability and desirability of conventional ornament connectors. For example, the capability and desirability of present ornament connector design is typically exceeded as the size of a chandelier exceeds 10 feet in diameter. For instance, as the diameter of the chandelier increases, the length of a “chain” or “run” of ornaments mounted on the chandelier increases and the tendency for the ornaments to twist or become misaligned increases. Large diameter chandeliers may have runs of ornaments of over 10 feet or more. Such long runs of ornaments are prone to unsightly twisting when conventional connecting methods and connectors are used. The realignment of such twisted chains is typically time consuming and, often, ineffective in providing the proper orientation of the ornaments desired.
Also, as the size of chandeliers increase, the size of the ornaments typically used also increases. This also taxes present ornament connector design. Specifically, as the size of a chandelier increases, the size of the ornaments mounted on the large chandelier must be increased to maintain the aesthetic qualities of the chandelier. For example, small ornaments simply are not aesthetically appealing when mounted on large chandeliers. Large chandeliers are typically mounted in large rooms and are typically viewed from larger distances than small chandeliers. As a result, to ensure that the aesthetics of individual ornaments or chains of ornaments are distinguishable on such large chandeliers, the ornaments themselves must typically be made larger. Typically, as the size of the ornaments increases, the weight of the ornament also increases. The increased weight of larger ornaments, for example, larger glass crystal ornaments, can exceed the load capacity of conventionally connected ornament chains.
The present invention overcomes these and other limitations in prior art ornament connectors, for example, especially for ornaments mounted on large chandeliers.